DESCRIPTION: The Gordon Research Conference on the Biology of Aging has been held approximately every 18 months for the last 25 years, and has earned its reputation as one of the most prestigious and informative meetings in the field of aging research. The 1988 conference will be held at Il Ciocco, Barga, Italy from May 10-15, 1998. Its theme is Integrative Mechanisms of Aging . Sessions will focus on evolution and aging; genetics transgenics and mutants; cells to systems (two sessions); integrative systems; genetics longevity and age-related diseases; and simple eukaryotic model systems. There will also be keynote lectures on topics of general relevance to the theme of the conference. The sessions and speakers have been selected to address the integrative theme of the meeting from a range of perspectives drawing upon the latest findings in a number of human and animal model systems. Funds are requested to pay the expenses of the chair, speakers and discussion leaders, as well as the expenses of ten young scientists (junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students) who will be invited to present their work in poster format.